Aristophanes Lysistrata 273

ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart

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Lysistrata. Aristophanes. ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart. Oxford. 1907.

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Current edition Perseus

Λυσιστράτη (Greek) (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 2. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.)

Translations (2)
Lysistrata (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Jack Lindsay). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 273 focus
English (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) Experimental (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.) — 273 focus

Commentary

Commentary (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.) focus

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ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ Κλεομένης, ὃς αὐτὴν κατέσχε πρῶτος,
The relative clause ὃς αὐτὴν κατέσχε πρῶτος refers to Cleomenes seizing the Acropolis (αὐτήν) in 404 BCE. The use of the aorist κατέσχε (from καταλαμβάνω) is precise: it denotes the initial, successful seizure of the citadel by the Spartan general under Lysander's command, an event that marks the transition to the rule of the Thirty Tyrants. The adverb πρῶτος emphasizes that this was the first Spartan occupation, distinguishing it from the earlier, failed attempts or the subsequent, more oppressive garrisoning. This specific phrasing relies on the audience's knowledge of the immediate post-war political landscape of Athens.

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ἀπῆθεν ἀψάλακτος, ἀλλʼ
The particle ἀλλʼ here introduces a correction or contrast to the preceding clause. While often translated simply as 'but', in this context it signals a shift from the description of the character's arrival ('she came from there without being touched') to the revelation of her actual state or a counter-intuitive fact that follows. The elision of the alpha in 'ἀλλʼ' before the vowel 'α' of the following word is a standard prosodic feature, but the syntactic force of the particle is crucial for understanding the dramatic irony: the speaker's initial claim is immediately qualified or contradicted by what follows.

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πινῶν ῥυπῶν ἀπαράτιλτος,
The participle ῥυπῶν (stinking, foul-smelling) modifies the subject of the sentence, describing the state of the person drinking. This is a striking and grotesque detail in the context of the play, where Lysistrata and the women are withholding sex from the men as part of their peace protest. The men, in their desperation, are depicted as so desperate and uncouth that they are drinking from a cup while emitting a foul odor, highlighting the absurdity and degradation of their situation.